Computed tomography-guided stereotactic biopsy of intracranial lesions in pediatric patients

Purpose: The primary objective of this study was to report the results of author's 18-year experience of diagnostic stereotactic biopsy procedures in children with intracranial lesions. Methods and materials: A retrospective analysis was conducted on stereotactic procedures performed on children with brain tumor between 1989 and 2007. Results: Stereotactic biopsy of intracranial tumors was performed in 172 children (69 girls, and 103 boys) with the mean age of 9.17±3.66 years at the time of diagnosis. The most frequent anatomical location of lesions was brainstem (45.9%). Glioma was the most common diagnosis, represented in 90.7% of patients (156 patients). Other diagnosed tumors (4.7%) were classified as metastatic (1.7%), lymphomas (1.2%), oligodendroglioma (0.6%), craniopharyngioma (0.6%), and pineocytoma (0.6%). Nonneoplastic lesions were revealed in 4.7% of patients. Conclusion: The most frequent brain pathology of children is glioma, but the incidence of brain lesions other than gliomas and the frequency of brain lesions in the inoperable areas are compelling reasons to establish tissue diagnosis.